Shoplifting suspect walks into police stakeout

A Bronx, N.Y., man whom police believe was stashing Home Depot merchandise in a garden center trash can -- and then fetching it after the store was closed -- has been arrested, according to an article on NorthJersey.com.

John Hussain, 49, was already under surveillance by store personnel when he entered a Home Depot store on May 9, put items in a black trash bag and stuffed them in the trash can in the store’s garden center. Hussain had allegedly done the same thing on May 2, returning to the store after it closed, cutting a hole in the bottom of the fence and retrieving the items. Security cameras captured the incident on tape, and police developed a description of the suspect and his car, a black Lexus.

According to authorities, police spotted the black Lexus and the suspect on the evening of May 9 outside the same store. Police set up a stake-out before closing, and at 10:20 the suspect arrived in the Lexus and was later apprehended with a black trash bag containing a Delta faucet valued at $218, police said.

Hussain was charged with possession of burglary tools, shoplifting, and criminal mischief, the latter stemming from damage to the store's fence. Additional charges from the May 2 burglar were also added.

Hussain was jailed, and bail was set at $25,000. The Department of Homeland Security's Immigration Department was notified and may place a detainer against Hussain in light of warrants on felonies from New York relating to burglary and theft, authorities said.